In my past topic of Entitlement VS Altruism, I briefly mentioned that neurophysiology had discovered the part of our brain that anticipates rewards, which can result to our entitlement/addiction behaviors. And what the original function that part of our brain was intended for by nature:

... a NIH research had discovered the region of the human brain that anticipates rewards, called the nucleus accumbens. Assuming this relatively primitive part of our brain is what's responsible for our entitlement behaviors, such as shopaholic, alcoholic, and substances abuse. We can see just how it came a long sway from its original function favored by nature, as an organ that produces sexual desire as well as monogamy/commitment in a relationship.

Now this part of our brain is also responsible for committing ourselves into repetitive behavior regarding simple tasks, all through its involvement with the natural brain chemical reaction called the dopamine. This was mentioned in another one of my topic called "The Psychology of Happiness is a Fuzzy Logic":

... let's look back in 1954 at McGill University, the year that James Olds with his team of psychologists accidentally found what he believed to be the pleasure central in rats' brains:

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

In 1954, psychologist James Olds and his team were working in a laboratory at McGill University, studying how rats learned. They would stick an electrode in a rat's brain and, whenever the rat went to a particular corner of its cage, would give it a small shock and note the reaction. One day they unknowingly inserted the probe in the wrong place, and when Olds tested the rat, it kept returning over and over to the corner where it received the shock. He eventually discovered that if the probe was put in the brain's lateral hypothalamus and the rats were allowed to press a lever and stimulate their own electrodes, they would press until they collapsed.

Olds, and everyone else, assumed he'd found the brain's pleasure center (some scientists still think so). Later experiments done on humans confirmed that people will neglect almost everything—their personal hygiene, their family commitments—in order to keep getting that buzz.(citation)

However, when we read further into the article, we discover that thanks to today's neurophysiology, that part of our brain is actually responsible for our "seeking" and "wanting" behaviors. And not for the sake of pleasure. But what we should take with us is the fact that our brains can easily be hijacked into repetitive seeking and wanting behaviors, due to chemical imbalance of dopamine in our brains.

Assuming that we now know everything there needs to know about how addiction works in our brains thanks to natural science, I would like you to watch a seven part student work documentary on the Vancouver Downtown East Side Homelessness, called the "Street of Plenty" by Corey Ogilvie and the brothers Misha & Alex Kleider. Afterward, please do feel free to take all the time that you'll need in order for you to compose yourself, before you resume reading the rest of my topic.

What Misha Kleider said about the cause of homelessness is indeed true: a lost of dignity due to addiction. And what's more is the fact that we shouldn't stop only there, when we are all drowning in a society of addictions a plenty. We hijacked our freedom into "doing whatever that one wants to be incentive/entitle/addictive of getting" with capitalism and materialism. As opposed to the philosopher Immanuel Kant illustrated freedom as something that I would refer to as "dignifying humanity with moral reasoning".

So now I leave you with a moral choice; are you an addict to our current society, or a true friend of humanity? Consider the following that:

"Never explain - your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway. "~ Elbert Hubbard

"True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable. "~ Dave Tyson Gentry

"A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down. "~ Arnold Glasow

"A friend is someone who can see the truth and pain in you even when you are fooling everyone else. "~ Unknown

So choose wisely, and may your choice be the moral guide for the rest of your life.

"We can choose to be happy with what we've got, or we can think about what ultimately won't make us happy. For thinking is a state of constant discontent before the moment of choosing what ultimately is happiness." ~me

You've got that right. Nothing beats the pull of a black hole. We are all being sucked into it as we speak.

Not when I'm still alive and can do something about it. While everything I've said were all based on open-source materials with authority, as well as science supported with facts. What I've got here is a strong case that I can take to any and all courts of laws on the sole behave of our humanity. Capitalism will need every able lawyers its money can afford, as this battle will cost them dearly.

Either I'll win, or I can die trying. Whichever the case may be, I would've uphold my dignity with my freedom, and my legacy will live on as a great display of humanity. All thing considered, it'll be fun.

You've got that right. Nothing beats the pull of a black hole. We are all being sucked into it as we speak.

Not when I'm still alive and can do something about it. While everything I've said were all based on open-source materials with authority, as well as science supported with facts. What I've got here is a strong case that I can take to any and all courts of laws on the sole behave of our humanity. Capitalism will need every able lawyers its money can afford, as this battle will cost them dearly.

Either I'll win, or I can die trying. Whichever the case may be, I would've uphold my dignity with my freedom, and my legacy will live on as a great display of humanity. All thing considered, it'll be fun.

You'd at least gain enormous respect from the few remaining good people in this world. A good fight is always worthwhile whether or not it is won.

In my past topic of Entitlement VS Altruism, I briefly mentioned that neurophysiology had discovered the part of our brain that anticipates rewards, which can result to our entitlement/addiction behaviors. And what the original function that part of our brain was intended for by nature:

... a NIH research had discovered the region of the human brain that anticipates rewards, called the nucleus accumbens. Assuming this relatively primitive part of our brain is what's responsible for our entitlement behaviors, such as shopaholic, alcoholic, and substances abuse. We can see just how it came a long sway from its original function favored by nature, as an organ that produces sexual desire as well as monogamy/commitment in a relationship.

Now this part of our brain is also responsible for committing ourselves into repetitive behavior regarding simple tasks, all through its involvement with the natural brain chemical reaction called the dopamine. This was mentioned in another one of my topic called "The Psychology of Happiness is a Fuzzy Logic":

... let's look back in 1954 at McGill University, the year that James Olds with his team of psychologists accidentally found what he believed to be the pleasure central in rats' brains:

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

In 1954, psychologist James Olds and his team were working in a laboratory at McGill University, studying how rats learned. They would stick an electrode in a rat's brain and, whenever the rat went to a particular corner of its cage, would give it a small shock and note the reaction. One day they unknowingly inserted the probe in the wrong place, and when Olds tested the rat, it kept returning over and over to the corner where it received the shock. He eventually discovered that if the probe was put in the brain's lateral hypothalamus and the rats were allowed to press a lever and stimulate their own electrodes, they would press until they collapsed.

Olds, and everyone else, assumed he'd found the brain's pleasure center (some scientists still think so). Later experiments done on humans confirmed that people will neglect almost everything—their personal hygiene, their family commitments—in order to keep getting that buzz.(citation)

However, when we read further into the article, we discover that thanks to today's neurophysiology, that part of our brain is actually responsible for our "seeking" and "wanting" behaviors. And not for the sake of pleasure. But what we should take with us is the fact that our brains can easily be hijacked into repetitive seeking and wanting behaviors, due to chemical imbalance of dopamine in our brains.

Assuming that we now know everything there needs to know about how addiction works in our brains thanks to natural science, I would like you to watch a seven part student work documentary on the Vancouver Downtown East Side Homelessness, called the "Street of Plenty" by Corey Ogilvie and the brothers Misha & Alex Kleider. Afterward, please do feel free to take all the time that you'll need in order for you to compose yourself, before you resume reading the rest of my topic.

What Misha Kleider said about the cause of homelessness is indeed true: a lost of dignity due to addiction. And what's more is the fact that we shouldn't stop only there, when we are all drowning in a society of addictions a plenty. We hijacked our freedom into "doing whatever that one wants to be incentive/entitle/addictive of getting" with capitalism and materialism. As opposed to the philosopher Immanuel Kant illustrated freedom as something that I would refer to as "dignifying humanity with the morality of reasoning".

So now I leave you with a moral choice; are you an addict to our current society, or a true friend of humanity? Consider the following that:

"Never explain - your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway. "~ Elbert Hubbard

"True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable. "~ Dave Tyson Gentry

"A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down. "~ Arnold Glasow

"A friend is someone who can see the truth and pain in you even when you are fooling everyone else. "~ Unknown

So choose wisely, and may your choice be the moral guide for the rest of your life.

"We can choose to be happy with what we've got, or we can think about what ultimately won't make us happy. For thinking is a state of constant discontent before the moment of choosing what ultimately is happiness." ~me

This documentry really opened my eyes about today's society.
We are really addicted to our luxury, but what can we do to stop that?
Even now I realize that (well perhaps I realized it before but banished the thought from my head, but now I can no longer ignore it) even tho I realize it I still sit here behind my computer, feeding my addiction for debate and information.

But is the example true? Is a drug addict realize similar to us oil addicts?
Is materialism that bad? Of cours it support corruption etc, but what other choice do we have? Marxsism? It is true that true Marxism never got a fair chance, and that Stalins communism was something even Karl Marx would dispise, but is it really doable?
Are you and others strong enough to go against this addiction? I think I am not.

You've got that right. Nothing beats the pull of a black hole. We are all being sucked into it as we speak.

Not when I'm still alive and can do something about it. While everything I've said were all based on open-source materials with authority, as well as science supported with facts. What I've got here is a strong case that I can take to any and all courts of laws on the sole behave of our humanity. Capitalism will need every able lawyers its money can afford, as this battle will cost them dearly.

Either I'll win, or I can die trying. Whichever the case may be, I would've uphold my dignity with my freedom, and my legacy will live on as a great display of humanity. All thing considered, it'll be fun.

You'd at least gain enormous respect from the few remaining good people in this world. A good fight is always worthwhile whether or not it is won.

And a fight against the system that dominates us it shall be, while our rage against the machine known as incentive shall not be in vain. For nature with her many marvels and wisdom has much to teach us still, and as long as we're willing and eager learners of nature, we shall prevail.

In my past topic of Entitlement VS Altruism, I briefly mentioned that neurophysiology had discovered the part of our brain that anticipates rewards, which can result to our entitlement/addiction behaviors. And what the original function that part of our brain was intended for by nature:

... a NIH research had discovered the region of the human brain that anticipates rewards, called the nucleus accumbens. Assuming this relatively primitive part of our brain is what's responsible for our entitlement behaviors, such as shopaholic, alcoholic, and substances abuse. We can see just how it came a long sway from its original function favored by nature, as an organ that produces sexual desire as well as monogamy/commitment in a relationship.

Now this part of our brain is also responsible for committing ourselves into repetitive behavior regarding simple tasks, all through its involvement with the natural brain chemical reaction called the dopamine. This was mentioned in another one of my topic called "The Psychology of Happiness is a Fuzzy Logic":

... let's look back in 1954 at McGill University, the year that James Olds with his team of psychologists accidentally found what he believed to be the pleasure central in rats' brains:

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

In 1954, psychologist James Olds and his team were working in a laboratory at McGill University, studying how rats learned. They would stick an electrode in a rat's brain and, whenever the rat went to a particular corner of its cage, would give it a small shock and note the reaction. One day they unknowingly inserted the probe in the wrong place, and when Olds tested the rat, it kept returning over and over to the corner where it received the shock. He eventually discovered that if the probe was put in the brain's lateral hypothalamus and the rats were allowed to press a lever and stimulate their own electrodes, they would press until they collapsed.

Olds, and everyone else, assumed he'd found the brain's pleasure center (some scientists still think so). Later experiments done on humans confirmed that people will neglect almost everything—their personal hygiene, their family commitments—in order to keep getting that buzz.(citation)

However, when we read further into the article, we discover that thanks to today's neurophysiology, that part of our brain is actually responsible for our "seeking" and "wanting" behaviors. And not for the sake of pleasure. But what we should take with us is the fact that our brains can easily be hijacked into repetitive seeking and wanting behaviors, due to chemical imbalance of dopamine in our brains.

Assuming that we now know everything there needs to know about how addiction works in our brains thanks to natural science, I would like you to watch a seven part student work documentary on the Vancouver Downtown East Side Homelessness, called the "Street of Plenty" by Corey Ogilvie and the brothers Misha & Alex Kleider. Afterward, please do feel free to take all the time that you'll need in order for you to compose yourself, before you resume reading the rest of my topic.

What Misha Kleider said about the cause of homelessness is indeed true: a lost of dignity due to addiction. And what's more is the fact that we shouldn't stop only there, when we are all drowning in a society of addictions a plenty. We hijacked our freedom into "doing whatever that one wants to be incentive/entitle/addictive of getting" with capitalism and materialism. As opposed to the philosopher Immanuel Kant illustrated freedom as something that I would refer to as "dignifying humanity with the morality of reasoning".

So now I leave you with a moral choice; are you an addict to our current society, or a true friend of humanity? Consider the following that:

"Never explain - your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway. "~ Elbert Hubbard

"True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable. "~ Dave Tyson Gentry

"A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down. "~ Arnold Glasow

"A friend is someone who can see the truth and pain in you even when you are fooling everyone else. "~ Unknown

So choose wisely, and may your choice be the moral guide for the rest of your life.

"We can choose to be happy with what we've got, or we can think about what ultimately won't make us happy. For thinking is a state of constant discontent before the moment of choosing what ultimately is happiness." ~me

This documentry really opened my eyes about today's society.We are really addicted to our luxury, but what can we do to stop that?
Even now I realize that (well perhaps I realized it before but banished the thought from my head, but now I can no longer ignore it) even tho I realize it I still sit here behind my computer, feeding my addiction for debate and information.

But is the example true? Is a drug addict realize similar to us oil addicts?
Is materialism that bad? Of cours it support corruption etc, but what other choice do we have? Marxsism? It is true that true Marxism never got a fair chance, and that Stalins communism was something even Karl Marx would dispise, but is it really doable?
Are you and others strong enough to go against this addiction? I think I am not.

This is after all a matter of the human mind, when the system of luxury itself was only designed for a single purpose. However now that we know just why and how our human brain can get dangerously addicted to luxury, the smart thing to do will be for ourselves to "respect, trust, and considerate" the dangerous effect of luxury to be true. And to strengthen ourselves with dignity and discipline, so that we'll not undermine ourselves to the sway of luxury.

And while we're at it, apply real tough sanctions, regulations, and restrains onto the system of luxury itself for good measures. I mean we're not going to hurt it or even kill it, when it's just a system.

I have a heavy internet usage as well, but I only devote a vary small portion of my time and effort on luxury use. When the bulk of my internet usage is all on me writing, contemplating, and analyzing. In other words, I turned my internet habit into a form of mental discipline.

Not all homeless people are out on the streets due to addiction to drugs and other forms of substance abuse I would say more than 60% are but never every last person. People can become homeless due to the fact of losing their job, epically in this recession, or went through so much mental anguish like during the Vietnam war that nobody wants to take care of them and just dump them on the street hoping that they will do okay. It is really a sad state affairs to see what the world has come to in this day and age with this problem but I try my best to help those that do need help since I am fortune it enough to have a good life, even though i have many short comings.

Not all homeless people are out on the streets due to addiction to drugs and other forms of substance abuse I would say more than 60% are but never every last person. People can become homeless due to the fact of losing their job, epically in this recession, or went through so much mental anguish like during the Vietnam war that nobody wants to take care of them and just dump them on the street hoping that they will do okay. It is really a sad state affairs to see what the world has come to in this day and age with this problem but I try my best to help those that do need help since I am fortune it enough to have a good life, even though i have many short comings.

But the thing is thanks to the social support system, getting addicted to the homeless lifestyle is easy. While any addiction rubs away our natural ability to respect and dignify ourselves, when our brains were meant to love ourselves and each other through natural design.

In other word, addiction is not natural when it's in fact very harmful and destructive, but now we need to realize just how easy it is for us to get addicted to just about anything via a simple mechanism of incentive. When even the mechanism of incentive itself is in fact addictive, as long as our brains naturally became primitive when we anticipate rewards.

Haha. Have I been chasing the ice dragon???? Stay tuned for further updates!!!!! Menthol cigarettes are tasty and NA is for quitters. Am I joking??? Most likely...

I know it's hard to take it all in, but for the sake of humanity as well as your dignity, the hard choice is the only choice left. For that's why children were born passionate, when there's no passion in us doing the easy task.

DomFortresswrote:
I have a heavy internet usage as well, but I only devote a vary small portion of my time and effort on luxury use. When the bulk of my internet usage is all on me writing, contemplating, and analyzing. In other words, I turned my internet habit into a form of mental discipline.

Wouldn't the fact that you have the time and resources to write, contemplate, and analyze be a form of luxury, since they are things you don't absolutely need to survive? Wouldn't your incentive to mentally discipline yourself be considered an addiction as well, since mental discipline is not required to live and function healthily?

DomFortresswrote:
I have a heavy internet usage as well, but I only devote a vary small portion of my time and effort on luxury use. When the bulk of my internet usage is all on me writing, contemplating, and analyzing. In other words, I turned my internet habit into a form of mental discipline.

Wouldn't the fact that you have the time and resources to write, contemplate, and analyze be a form of luxury, since they are things you don't absolutely need to survive? Wouldn't your incentive to mentally discipline yourself be considered an addiction as well, since mental discipline is not required to live and function healthily?

whats wrong with luxury and addiction?

since mental discipline is not required to live and function healthily?

Some would argue you arent truly living without mental discipline. And u certainly cant function without discipline.

and if u cannot live and function, you cannot be healthy. peace over war

since mental discipline is not required to live and function healthily?

Some would argue you arent truly living without mental discipline. And u certainly cant function without discipline.

and if u cannot live and function, you cannot be healthy. peace over war

I never said luxury and addiction were wrong, but that is what the OP is saying from what I understand, and that is what I was challenging.

You don't need discipline to follow your survival instincts, and those are all you really need to live and function. It takes discipline to resist those instincts (i.e fasting) and other natural urges, and resisting them is not necessary to live in function, in fact resisting makes it harder to do so.

DomFortresswrote:
I have a heavy internet usage as well, but I only devote a vary small portion of my time and effort on luxury use. When the bulk of my internet usage is all on me writing, contemplating, and analyzing. In other words, I turned my internet habit into a form of mental discipline.

Wouldn't the fact that you have the time and resources to write, contemplate, and analyze be a form of luxury, since they are things you don't absolutely need to survive? Wouldn't your incentive to mentally discipline yourself be considered an addiction as well, since mental discipline is not required to live and function healthily?

I would argue that me putting my time and effort to write, contemplate and analyze the content of the internet is a form of me learning resourcefully. While learning is how I discipline myself to become fit to survive via nature's law of survival the fittest.

Also, there's a world of difference between incentive as an addictive reward system called extrinsic motivation, as opposed to the intrinsic motivators of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Therefore it's not an addiction when it's a natural duty for survival of the fittest. While even the science of playing is ultimately built around that concept.

And finally, I would argue that a playful, plastic, adaptive and adoptive mind is what ultimately made possible of humanity's greatest strength of survival: creativity that's born from applying our imagination in a dangerous environment. Therefore yes, intellectual fitness gain from mental discipline is critical for a healthy, functional, as well as natural life under the evolution theory.

since mental discipline is not required to live and function healthily?

Some would argue you arent truly living without mental discipline. And u certainly cant function without discipline.

and if u cannot live and function, you cannot be healthy. peace over war :ph34r:

Well it's more like a life of luxury, aka an easy life, it's itself addictive. And when you apply that to my earlier principle of how our brains' respond to addictions became rather primitive, you can see just what's wrong with the picture.

Cuddlebunswrote:
I never said luxury and addiction were wrong, but that is what the OP is saying from what I understand, and that is what I was challenging.

You don't need discipline to follow your survival instincts, and those are all you really need to live and function. It takes discipline to resist those instincts (i.e fasting) and other natural urges, and resisting them is not necessary to live in function, in fact resisting makes it harder to do so.

The body function needed for survival, such as eating in the case of hunger, isn't what the nucleus accumbens was naturally meant for. Therefore you need to eat because you're hungry isn't an addiction.

DomFortresswrote:
I would argue that me putting my time and effort to write, contemplate and analyze the content of the internet is a form of me learning resourcefully. While learning is how I discipline myself to become fit to survive via nature's law of survival the fittest.

Also, there's a world of difference between incentive as an addictive reward system called extrinsic motivation, as opposed to the intrinsic motivators of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Therefore it's not an addiction when it's a natural duty for survival of the fittest. While even the science of playing is ultimately built around that concept.

And finally, I would argue that a playful, plastic, adaptive and adoptive mind is what ultimately made possible of humanity's greatest strength of survival: creativity that's born from applying our imagination in a dangerous environment. Therefore yes, intellectual fitness gain from mental discipline is critical for a healthy, functional, as well as natural life under the evolution theory.

So how is learning a bunch of things that, for the most part, don't benefit your survival and talking about them on an internet forum make you any more fit than a guy who knows half as much as you but makes twice as much as you do simply because he chose a profession that pays more? I don't see how learning does anything besides feed your unnecessary (although admirable) desire to learn more. I also don't see how knowing more fact makes you more imaginative, or how you can even learn to be imaginative.

The body function needed for survival, such as eating in the case of hunger, isn't what the nucleus accumbens was naturally meant for. Therefore you need to eat because you're hungry isn't an addiction.

I never said that hunger was an addiction. I was trying to say that discipline hinders survival more than it helps.

DomFortresswrote:
I would argue that me putting my time and effort to write, contemplate and analyze the content of the internet is a form of me learning resourcefully. While learning is how I discipline myself to become fit to survive via nature's law of survival the fittest.

Also, there's a world of difference between incentive as an addictive reward system called extrinsic motivation, as opposed to the intrinsic motivators of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Therefore it's not an addiction when it's a natural duty for survival of the fittest. While even the science of playing is ultimately built around that concept.

And finally, I would argue that a playful, plastic, adaptive and adoptive mind is what ultimately made possible of humanity's greatest strength of survival: creativity that's born from applying our imagination in a dangerous environment. Therefore yes, intellectual fitness gain from mental discipline is critical for a healthy, functional, as well as natural life under the evolution theory.

So how is learning a bunch of things that, for the most part, don't benefit your survival and talking about them on an internet forum make you any more fit than a guy who knows half as much as you but makes twice as much as you do simply because he chose a profession that pays more? I don't see how learning does anything besides feed your unnecessary (although admirable) desire to learn more. I also don't see how knowing more fact makes you more imaginative, or how you can even learn to be imaginative.

The body function needed for survival, such as eating in the case of hunger, isn't what the nucleus accumbens was naturally meant for. Therefore you need to eat because you're hungry isn't an addiction.

I never said that hunger was an addiction. I was trying to say that discipline hinders survival more than it helps.

Because without knowing what I know, would you yourself have figured it out on your own just why is it that we're fiscally irresponsible and irrational? That we are still damaging our environment despise the ample warnings? That with the promise of God's grace, the world is still full of evil? That with all our entertainment technology, depression is still plaguing our lives? That how our humanity's freedom and dignity got hijacked by our society of addiction a plenty, not survival the fittest?

No, you'll be too contend with only your addictions just like the majority to even care. And that's the hard fact, because you didn't watch any of the links I provided, did you?